Tackle Trade World - April 2024

FEATURE
ICAST
Inside fishing tackle’s
can’t-miss review event
At ICAST, a happy hour made for tackle dealers delivers more than a good time.
Every year, there’s a happy hour that
gives tackle dealers an early look
at the most exciting new products
in fishing.
Like clockwork, it begins when the
bright lights of Orlando’s Orange County
Convention Center flicker to life over a red
carpet leading through a gateway at ICAST.
Before the show floor officially opens
on Wednesday morning, the New Product
Showcase Reception roars to life just as the
forklifts loading in display booths fall silent
on Tuesday afternoon.
Inside, display cases glow with spotlights
on new lures bound for fisheries, from
deep blue waters flanking sandy paradises
to remote trout streams high in the Rocky
Mountains.
Display racks are zoned with apparel
made of new materials and sporting new
patterns that have yet to see retail shelves.
And a gathered crowd of retailers and
media members share complimentary hors
d’oeuvres, cocktails and brews amidst a hall
where the best of the best new products at
ICAST are all located in one place.
Aiming for the best
“The New Product Showcase Reception is
the first look attendees get at every product
entered in the ICAST Best of Category
Awards,” says American Sportfishing
Association trade show vice-president Blake
Swango.
“It’s not only a chance to see new
products, most of them for the first time, but
16 www.tackletradeworld.com
also an opportunity to vote in the awards
and plan which exhibitors you might want to
go see throughout the week.”
Last year, more than 1,000 new products
shimmered in the spotlight of the New
Product Showcase. Combined, they
represented years of work from a field of
633 exhibitors competing in 37 categories
ranging from hard and soft lures to apparel
and watercraft.
Well received
For most of the past two decades, Aleida
Tush has made the drive up to ICAST from
her tackle store in Siesta Key, Florida in time
for the reception.
“We get to see new products first-hand
before a lot of people,” says Tush. “If you
don’t go to ICAST, it can take two or three
months before you could even possibly begin
seeing some of the new things coming into
the market for yourself.”
Tush says the chance to see brand new
products before even browsing the aisles
of ICAST has immediate and longterm
benefits for her business, CB Outfitters.
“I always think that gives you a jump on
seeing and possibly being able to order new
products,” she says, noting that the New
Product Showcase helps populate her show
calendar. “One of the reasons you go to
ICAST is that you have the opportunity to
meet and talk with managers, presidents or
vice presidents that you otherwise might not
meet. You get to share your ideas with them,
too.”
For Tush and many retailers like her,
some of those ideas are sparked at the New
Product Showcase Reception – a happy hour
unlike any other, a happy hour tailor-made
for tackle store owners and employees.
“ICAST is the biggest sportfishing
tradeshow on the planet,” adds Swango.
“There is truly no other place where tackle
dealers can see so many new products in
person while having the opportunity to
speak directly to many of the people involved
in making them.”
Growth potential
This year, the ICAST New Product
Showcase is expanding to include 41
categories. It’s an all-time record that means
attendees will have the chance to see even
more brand-new products at the show and
might need to spend a little more time at the
unofficial kick-off happy hour.
The 2024 ICAST New Product Showcase
Preview Reception is scheduled from 5-8pm
on Tuesday, July 16 inside the Orange
County Convention Center.
Registration for ICAST 2024, set for July
16-19, is open now. Qualified attendees can
register for free and download the official
ICAST smartphone app to stay up-to-date
on daily events in Orlando on both iOS and
Android.
ICAST
www.ICASTFishing.org